A man accused in 30 armed robberies and known to police as the "Old Man Bandit" has refused a prosecutor's offer to forgo a trial and spend 40 years in prison. Prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence of up to 60 years for Edwin Loftus, 60, of Glendale, who is believed to be responsible for a string of holdups outside banks in Glendale and the San Fernando Valley from 1989 to 1993.

James Ambrose McGrath, a suspected San Fernando Valley robber accused in the biggest bank heist in Los Angeles history, was portrayed Tuesday by a federal prosecutor as a meticulous thief who terrorized bank employees with guns and disguised himself in costumes to steal more than $1 million from nine banks. McGrath, 49, one of two men suspected of carrying out the sophisticated, yearlong robbery spree, appeared undisturbed by the accusations as he sat Tuesday in the courtroom of U. S.

A North Hollywood woman told a federal jury Friday that no one provided medical assistance or even basic first aid to bank robbery suspect Emil Matasareanu during the hour she watched the "heavily" bleeding, handcuffed gunman die face-down in the street in front of her house. Dora Julia Lubensky, 69, recalled the violent events of Feb. 28, 1997 as a witness in a federal civil rights suit filed on behalf of Matasareanu's sons, Emil Jr., 8, and Alexander, 4.

Two Palmdale men were sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for beating a man to death and then using the dead man's automated teller machine card to take money from his account. Paul Nicholson, 27, and Michael Goldsberry, 22, were convicted in December by a San Fernando Superior Court jury in the slaying of Valentin S. Montesdeoca, 43, whose body was found Sept. 8, 1991, in a Palmdale drainage ditch. "I think the sentence is appropriate," said Deputy Dist.

A robber who held up an "in-store" bank Friday afternoon may be part of a bank robbery ring responsible for 30 similar heists in the area since April, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation spokesman. The robbery occurred about 12:55 p.m. Friday, when a man carrying a plastic bag walked up to a Washington Mutual Bank counter inside the Vons supermarket at 24160 Lyons Ave. He slid a note to the teller demanding cash, investigators said.

Two Canyon Country men were being held Tuesday in connection with a string of Southern California bank robberies by a group dubbed the "Hole-in-the-Wall Gang." The nickname stems from the group's habit of entering the banks they robbed through a roof or opening in a wall. The gang is suspected of robbing five Security Pacific banks in the last 14 months, according to Federal Bureau of Investigation officials.

An elderly man believed to be the "Baseball Cap Bandit," who is thought to be responsible for as many as seven bank robberies in the Glendale area in recent months, was ordered held without bail Tuesday at a federal court hearing in Los Angeles. U.S. Magistrate Brian Q. Robbins set Feb. 13 for a preliminary hearing of the case against John Duane Buckland, 61, described by police as a transient who lived at a succession of cheap motels while allegedly committing the robberies.

Herman and Judy Cook met in classic Texas fashion more than 20 years ago: He was turning her around at an Amarillo square dance. But the way Herman Cook, a Brink's security guard, died Wednesday was brutally urban: cut down without warning by a swarm of high-powered bullets. "They don't even hold up a gun and say, 'Give me the money,' " Judy Cook said Thursday. "They just kill you today. You need a fighting chance--or half a fighting chance."

A man whose father is already serving a 12-year prison sentence for bank robbery was arrested Wednesday--along with his wife--for committing the same offense, authorities said. William Miles Jr., 24, and his wife, Charmika, 20, surrendered to Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies at 4:40 p.m. after barricading themselves in their Palmdale home for about an hour, according to Gary Auer, an FBI supervisor.

September 22, 1992 | CAROL WATSON and TERRY SPENCER, SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

An Arizona man suspected of kidnaping a 21-year-old woman led a string of CHP cars on a 95-m.p.h. chase for more than 180 miles from Barstow on Monday, and officers were involved in a second high-speed chase that led to the arrest of three suspected bank robbers, authorities said. In the chase that began in Barstow, Charles Frances Edwards of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., was arrested and the woman was freed unharmed, investigators said.